When Jazz and Fleece Collide

Wednesday night I went to the first jazz concert I've been to since Fine Arts Camp and Jazz Fest. Cecile, Celine and I drove out to a theatre/casino complex near town where the concert was taking place, and ended up an hour early, so we got a chance to check out the casino (I realized, surprisingly, I could totally blow all of my savings if I wanted to, you can gamble at 18 in France. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I didn't feel an insane need to. Celine, on the other hand, could have played all night long if someone gave her the chance. About half an hour before the show, we met friends who came to watch also, and went to the restaurant next to the casino to have drinks and kill some time. As we walked in and headed towards the bar, Cecile turned to me and said "Listen, Meghan, they're speaking English behind us! You'll have to tell us what they're saying." She was right - there was a table of middle-aged men speaking English with American accents right behind our seats at the bar, laughing loudly. I stopped listening after a little while, since I can't listen to English and speak French at the same time. Right after I sat down, however, someone spoke behind me.
"Excuse me, miss, your coat fell."
I turned around to see one of the American men standing a little awkwardly with my fleece coat in his hands, accepted it, and said, "Oh! Thank you!" In English back to him. He gave me a nod and a smile, and then I turned back to my family.
After talking a bit, I found out that the jazz we were going to listen to tonight was actually a really famous player - Monty Alexander! Pretty cool, he's been to Lionel Hampton (jazz festival Sitka bands go to) before (for those of you who've been), played with Frank Sinatra, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillaspie, Clark Terry, Sonny Rollins, and Natalie Cole.
About 15 minutes before the concert, the group of Americans behind us got up to leave. Before walking out of the restaurant though, the man who picked up my jacket turned to me again. He bent over and said, "Hello, are you going to the concert tonight?"
- This is where suspicious who-are-you-and-why-are-you-talking-to-me-again-Meghan begins to wonder what exactly this guy wants. Why would a 40-year-old man want to know if I'm going to the concert? He can't be that desperate to speak English - he's got friends. While this analysis is running in my head, I decide it really won't hurt if I talk to the guy. It is a jazz concert and I'm with my family, after all.
"Yes, yes, I am." I say back to him.
He smiles at me again, and says "And what is your name?"
"Meghan." He sticks out his hand to shake it (which I've done probably a total of 3 times since I came to France - no one shakes hands here) and says with another smile, "Well, Meghan, I really hope you enjoy the concert tonight!"
"Thanks!" I say back, smiling, and then he walked away.
My family was staring at me.
"Don't ask me - I have no clue!" I said. They laughed, asked me what he said, and I translated it for them. They teased me a little, we finished our drinks (my mango juice was really good), and then headed into the concert. Our seats were in the 20th row in the auditorium (which was super classy, red velvet and all that) so we had a really good view of the stage - pretty close up. The stage hands set up, tweaked cords, etc, and then the drummer of the Monty Alexander trio walked out to put his sticks out.

I laughed when I saw him, suddenly understanding, and turned around to Celine and Cecile.
"That's him!" I said. "That's the guy who picked up my coat and was talking to me earlier!"
He set his sticks down, and then started to survey the crowd. Celine said to me, "Fais coucou! Fais coucou!" (Wave hi! Wave hi!). She picked up my hand and made me wave. He saw me, laughed and waved back.

The rest of the concert was amazing - everyone should definitely check out Monty Alexander if you haven't yet. He's an amazing pianist, and he played great music the whole night. It was a hommage to Bob Marley, and he had a Jamaican trio and his regular trio both on stage - playing at the same time, trading 4s, the music was fantastic. My attempts at explaining it are failing, I think, so go look him up on iTunes. That will work better.

All in all - good night!

Postcards from Alaska

For a project in my 6th grade English class, I had the kids write postcards to their families while pretending they were in Alaska. They wrote about their stories from Alaska, and drew pictures of whales, boats, fish, etc. They were so cute and funny, I thought I'd post a couple.

"Hi, Yesterday, I went to the sea-side and I saw a whale; it was very big and fantastic. We went on a boat and I wore a lifejacket. I saw salmon and millions of crab. Here the weather is very cold can you send me gloves please?"
The picture was of an igloo in the snow with an American flag flying next to it, and the words "Alaska, USA, Obama, President!" written to the side.

"Dear mother,
I'm here in Alaska. I live in a little house alone in the forest. Everyday I get up and go hunt deer or other animals to eat. One day I saw a bear. He was big and he scared me a bit. Yesterday I bought a raincoat because it rains nearly everyday. Sometimes when I'm sick of going hunting, I go to the lake and try to fish for something. I come back to France next week, see you soon!"

"Hello, it is me!! I am writing a postcard for you. So I am having fun, I have met a bear!!! It was very big and scary so I ran away. I hope I won't meet any more in the forest. Did you know that bears are very big? It is very cold There is snow everywhere. See you all."

"Thanks for the life jacket! Dear Saskia, I'm going to tell you a strange story. I was in a lovely boat to see whales, salmon and halibut. Suddenly, the captain screamed, "Jump! Jump!' I answered, "Are you crazy? There are sharks!" "JUUUUUMMMMP!" And I jumped. My life jacket saved me. I caught a crab who brought me to the beach! I called it "Jack the Crab!" It's a real story! Kiss from Alaska!"
This picture was also great - a girl swimming with her life jacket on, with a large red crab next to her. In the background, there is a large sinking boat labelled "Titanic 2" and people falling off of the boat, crying and screaming. There are several large cloads in the sky with mean faces spitting lightning. I love it.

And, my favorite:

"Hi mum...
I'm sorry to say it to you, but by the time you receive this post card, I might be dead...I fell down from a boat and broke my back. A shark ate my arm (the left one) and half my right leg, which means that even if I survive, I won't walk ever again. Oh no, my hart is stopping now. Good-bye...aaaaaaaargh aie help! aaaaaah...."
And the picture...A boy on a gurney, with one leg and a bloody stump, of course. His arm has also been bitten, but the bone is visible, and he is hooked up to some sort of IV machine with a red bag labelled "blood". His T-shirt has "In Peace" written on it.

Lol...well, I couldn't stop laughing. Gotta love the imagination! I think I'll have them write more postcards, just in case I ever need a pick-me-up. This has definitely been my favorite project so far. :)

Hey guys, here are the promised pumpkin pictures! Sorry it took me so long - totally spaced it. We couldn't actually find any pumpkins to carve, so we went with the biggest squash/pumpkin-looking things we could find.

This month I'm planning to do some Thanksgiving-related things, and maybe we can do a dinner at home. I may be gone over Thanksgiving, however, as I will be travelling to Andorra (a small country between Spain and France) and possibly London!